Besides, this is more in the uber-iPod arena than the portable DVD arena. I have a AV320 myself and I take it to the gym for MP3 listenning. I wouldnt want a full DVD player there;-)
I have an AV320 that I got from some consulting I did a while back (because he couldn't pay me in cash, har har har) and I absolutely love mine.
It's powered by embedded Linux (which I love) and it works like a dream. There have been many an airplane ride that was made easier because of my AV320;-)
My biggest problem with mine (could not apply to this version) was that the screen wasn't well protected. A simple $8 camera carrying case and a pack of Palm screen protectors and this problem was solved.
Step 1: Deny existence of bug. Step 2: Classify bug as feature. Step 3: Cave to user demand and try to fix bug. Step 4: Introduce new bugs during the fix. Step 5: Classify those bugs as features. Step 6: Pretend bugs are fixed and continue playing Minesweeper.
I have to agree. The thing that really bugs me is that he's presenting this stuff like it's really new or unknown. Sure, it's unknown to some script-kiddie wannabe who thinks they are 1337 because they can bring up a DOS prompt in their WinXP, but if you are even the slightest bit experienced as a sysadmin, then nothing in this video should be news to you.
*Yes, we know, LM password hashes (and authentication) are crap. If anyone is still using these in a modern network they deserve to have their networks owned.
*Yes, we know, you can change/reset the password on any Win32 machine using the Linux-based password & registry editors. Well, you can also change the password on a Linux box, or any freaking machine using similar techniques. Once someone has physical access to your drive, you're pretty much screwed.
Anyway, as I mentionned in another comment in this article, the video is for posers and script-kiddies. No serious systems or security person will find anything remotely interesting here. Hell, Kevin Mitnick would probably find the whole thing irritating if he were to see it as a whole.
I guess it goes to show that the slashdot audience has changed over the years....
Well, and the thing is, pretty much everything on here is what I would classify as "poser" or script-kiddie junk. I mean, if you aren't familier with the fact that LM hashes are trash (and that your SAMBA server shouldn't support them;-) and the fact that we've had the Linux-based password reset and Knoppix-STD for a while now, then you aren't much of a security guy.
If anything in this video is news to you, then you better not be working as a sysadmin. Because all the little teenage punk kids feeling 1337 after watching this stupid video will own your ass.
Actually, my current best DVD player is Mplayer and Linux running on my Toshiba Satellite DVD laptop.
I use Gentoo Linux with all the performance patches in the kernel (low-latency, pre-empt). Combine this with the fact that all of my libraries/apps/tools are built specifically for my hardware, and I have a blazing system. I use the latest XFree86 to support my laptop's video hw accel. Then, I use Mplayer from the CLI (tho, there are some fancy GUIs for those who prefer the stuff). Since the laptop has a TV out, I can plug it into my home entertainment system.
The end result is a DVD player that allows me to skip all ads/warnings/etc, and watch what I want when I want. Plus, since everything is so optimized for my hardware (it helps that everything on the laptop is 100% supported;-) I actually get DVD playback as good as anything else I've tried (I have a PS2 and used to own a dedicated DVD player). I was even shocked to discover that with all this set up, DVD playing under Linux actually/can/ outperform Win32 on the same box (don't flame me, it's really true.. and I was as surprised as you are;-)
I wouldn't say it's because no one uses it. By even the most cautious estimates, there are more Linux users than Mac users. Add to that the fact that much of the internet (web/ftp/etc sites) is powered by Linux and you see that Linux is indeed a big target.
But with Linux we will never see the same level of email virus type threats that we see on Windows, because Linux users are encouraged to not run as root (the system administrator). Non-root users can do little more than destroy their own personal files. They will not be able to take down the system or do any real damage to the OS (unless, as I said, they are logged in as root).
With Linux the threat is more in the sense of exploits: either as a worm type virii that exploits some known problem in a large number of Linux systems (eg those Lion variants from several years back) or from some cracker out there who knows the exploits and uses them to gain malicious access to your system.
So, just like Windows, as a Linux user you still have to be carefull... keep up on the latest pacthes for your distro/software you use, and be paranoid... It's just that the threat is different, and in many ways, not as easy to neglect.
I've used Linux as my primary OS for some 6-7 years now. I've never gotten a virii or worm of any sort. I browse the web comfortably, and read mail without worry. However, I have had problems. About a year and a half ago I had someone break into my home system and use it to launch attacks on other systems. This person used some exploit I didn't know about, gave themselves and administrative account, and then proceeded to install and setup various cracking utilities. I'm not really certain what (if anything) they did with my system, because shortly after this happenned, I rebuilt my desktop (switched from RedHat to Debian), and it was only when I was restoring my/home directories that I discovered one for a user I never added... But I do know I had been compromised.
So the moral of the story is that you are never completely secure or safe. But with Linux, you do start out more secure than you otherwise would on Windows.
BTW, the way I now handle security is I just have an external firewall and router that protects my private home network. I have an old 486 running Coyote Linux that sits between me and the rest of the internet. It's still not Fort Knox... but it is very very close.
It's not just about getting paid more.... I've had jobs that pay me 4x what my current job is, but I did not enjoy them like I do my current one.
I don't care if people read this next comment as hokey, it's something I beleive in: I think the key is to find the perfect balance between surviving financially (making money) and surviving emotionally (enjoying where you work and what you do).
Before and shortly after the bubble-burst, I was working at a rather large company (very large company) doing a job that was particularily enjoyable for me (cross-platform development). I made very good money there. I even enjoyed my coworkers... they were friends and people I liked. However, there were two big problems- 1) I didn't like where this job made me live.. it made me live away from my wife for months on end and 2) I didn't like the management in the company I worked at (they made some pretty horrendously stupid decisions on technical matters based upon the decisions of lawyers rather than engineers).
My current job pays a lot less, but it is soooo much more enjoyable. It might not be quite as challenging (mostly system administration with minor development here and there) but the work environment is much more enjoyable. I like my boss and my coworkers, I consider them good friends. I like the other people I work with (the people I manage systems for), and I like where I live. Plus, my bene's are a tad better (granted, I'm now a state employee, so we tend to get pretty good benefits anyway;-)
My advice is to look at where you do and would work in both situations, who you'd work with, and add that into the decision. If it turns out that you really like working where you are currently working, and you like who you work with, than I'd say stay. If the other option has more potential, then go for it instead.
MPlayer actually supports many more formats than Xine (at least, the version of Xine in Debian testing compared to the latest source-compiled MPlayer.. Xine could have a newer version that supports what mplayer supports). As a matter of fact, I'm yet to encounter a format (other than the obvious Quicktime) that mplayer doesn't support.
Personally, I prefer mplayer over all the others, but I'll admit my reasons wont appeal to everyone. I prefer mplayer compiled without the GUI. Running mplayer from the CLI is my prefered way to do it, and it runs so extremely fast. I think the article was a bit harsh on mplayer's system requirements, as I have a Linux powered, DVD playing laptop that runs at either 250Mhz or 500Mhz (it's one of those awful auto-cycling Celerons:-/ ) that I cannot get Xine to run efficiently on. Yet mplayer w/o the GUI runs like a dream.
The biggest problem with MPlayer (IMHO) is that the developer's can be a bit harsh when people come to them with questions. They usually spout off the standard RTFM garbage (in spite of the fact that many sections of the manuals can be a) hard to find and b) quite terse). However, to be fair, they seem to have lightened up a bit recently. Regardless... mplayer is a divine app;-)
You know what, the X Files jumped the shark long ago.
Remember when they killed off Spender (CGB's son?) as a season finale and then came back the next season as if *nothing* had happenned. Neither Mulder nor Scully nor anyone else ever seemed to care that someone who had been a high profile FBI agent, led the X files for a year, and adimantly (sp?) opposed what Mulder & Scully had done the previous 4-5 years mysteriously dissappeared just before Mulder & Scully were reinstated?!
And what about they time the entire Syndicate was killed off by the alien rebels (at least, that's who it seemed to be), and after that we never saw a) the black oil, b) the alien rebels, c) the bees, d) anything from the first 4-5 years, again?!
And let's not forget the first year Ducovny (sp? Duck-of-knee?) pulled his tantrum and we spent 6 months seeing him naked, strapped to a chair, with Hellraiser-esque hooks pulling his face, screaming "Scully!!" Or in the same season when we were treated to a pudgy-faced intern pretending to be Ducovny holding the crazy long-armed boy (the guy wasn't a boy, just an adult with some disease.. but he had these freakishly long arms by this point, and looked silly next to this horrid Ducovny rip-off) hostage while Skinner tried to rescue him?!
No, the X files jumped the shark a long damn time ago... and Carter's been milking this series a lot longer than he should have. The Lone Gunman series was pretty good last year, but never could have survived on its own with the X Files blowing chunks as it has been (which is unfortunate, I know).
X Files... PBBTH! I want my 20 some-odd video tapes, and X-odd years (what, 9?) back I've spent watching this show after the last two seasons.
Signed, one bitter X-Files fan. (At least I have Farscape;-)
We've recently set up a Spam Troll-box using Vipul's Razor on our new Tux4Kids dev server (you can find our troll box here).
A troll-box gives Spam-bots a place to send their spam. When this box intercepts the spam, it reports it to the Vipul's Razor network, and everyone else on this network becomes aware of that spam (if they are also using Vipul's Razor to filter, which, chances are they are, it will filter that spam if they get it).
If Vipul's Razor isn't enough, one can even use something like SpamAssassin in conjunction with Vipul's Razor to get even better results.
Of course, this isn't cutting off Spam-bots at their source... but if enough sites were to cut them off at their source, then I'd imagine the Spam-bot authors would get wise to this and devise a way around it. Whereas with something like a SPam Troll-box, the Spam-bots seem to still be working to those running the Spam bots;-)
Plus, let's not forget that this movie (and the first) were also based on a very good comic book (one of the last good ones Marvel had, IMHO, some ten years ago) as well as some funky 70s ones... So let's cut it some slack and see how true it comes to the original books.
First of all, as far is I can recall Whistler was a vampire in the original book (at least, if he wasn't, there was some other dude helping Blade out who was). Second of all, there was something like the BloodPack in the original series (there were even other things like the "Midnight Sons" and the "League of Darkness" and stuff like that).
I guess what I'm trying to say is, the most important thing (IMHO) is to be true to the comic book that spawned it (like Batman Forever, but not like Batman Returns). If the movie-maker can do that, who cares what some dork who never read the comic and never cared about it before thinks.
Uhm.... so each machine becomes part of a massive collective of other Playstations? Does this sound like the Borg to anyone else?
Also, how long before this "collective" of PS3's becomes self-aware and decides to overthrow and criple it's human makers by giving them carpal tunnel?
While I'm not arguing the badness or goodness of software piracy... I am still very unconvinced this has anything to do with piracy.
It seems to me that all the bnetd developers did was reverse engineer the protocols involved in these battle.net servers, then provide a drop-in emulator.
This can be used by pirates, since the emulators don't need to validate the CD keys of the game... however, a quick search on Google, Gnutella, etc. will grant you many legitimate keys to play your pirated software on the official network anyway. So keys can be faked.
The bnetd servers promote piracy as much as owning a computer promotes piracy: they both can be means by which a pirated peice of software can be used. That is a very very very flimsy argument, and if it werent for the DMCA's anti-reverse engineering component, things like this would not be possible.
Slashdot Mirror
I dunno, since they don't get much money from RvB (or didnt last I checked) doesn't it seem really unkind to send a blast of traffic at them...
;-)
Thousands and thousands (millions and millions?) of people trying to download the large movie files seems like cruel and unusual punishment
Actually, these things are smaller than a DVD ;-)
;-)
Besides, this is more in the uber-iPod arena than the portable DVD arena. I have a AV320 myself and I take it to the gym for MP3 listenning. I wouldnt want a full DVD player there
I have an AV320 that I got from some consulting I did a while back (because he couldn't pay me in cash, har har har) and I absolutely love mine.
;-)
It's powered by embedded Linux (which I love) and it works like a dream. There have been many an airplane ride that was made easier because of my AV320
My biggest problem with mine (could not apply to this version) was that the screen wasn't well protected. A simple $8 camera carrying case and a pack of Palm screen protectors and this problem was solved.
Actually, what I really missed was:
Step 7: Send feature (was bug) to documentation writers and let them add it to future manuals.
Step 1: Deny existence of bug.
Step 2: Classify bug as feature.
Step 3: Cave to user demand and try to fix bug.
Step 4: Introduce new bugs during the fix.
Step 5: Classify those bugs as features.
Step 6: Pretend bugs are fixed and continue playing Minesweeper.
Isn't this a little late for April fools day?!
Microsoft releasing an OSS project hosted on SourceForge indeed....
I have to agree. The thing that really bugs me is that he's presenting this stuff like it's really new or unknown. Sure, it's unknown to some script-kiddie wannabe who thinks they are 1337 because they can bring up a DOS prompt in their WinXP, but if you are even the slightest bit experienced as a sysadmin, then nothing in this video should be news to you.
*Yes, we know, LM password hashes (and authentication) are crap. If anyone is still using these in a modern network they deserve to have their networks owned.
*Yes, we know, you can change/reset the password on any Win32 machine using the Linux-based password & registry editors. Well, you can also change the password on a Linux box, or any freaking machine using similar techniques. Once someone has physical access to your drive, you're pretty much screwed.
Anyway, as I mentionned in another comment in this article, the video is for posers and script-kiddies. No serious systems or security person will find anything remotely interesting here. Hell, Kevin Mitnick would probably find the whole thing irritating if he were to see it as a whole.
I guess it goes to show that the slashdot audience has changed over the years....
Well, and the thing is, pretty much everything on here is what I would classify as "poser" or script-kiddie junk. I mean, if you aren't familier with the fact that LM hashes are trash (and that your SAMBA server shouldn't support them ;-) and the fact that we've had the Linux-based password reset and Knoppix-STD for a while now, then you aren't much of a security guy.
If anything in this video is news to you, then you better not be working as a sysadmin. Because all the little teenage punk kids feeling 1337 after watching this stupid video will own your ass.
Does this mean it could be ported to Win32, BeOS and AmigaOS?
Nine freaking hours....
Unless they pull that whole "talking about stuff while we see interspersed clips indicating it happenned" thing that they did in Matrix: Reloaded.
Caffeine.....
Well, perahps PCP would help as well...
Actually, my current best DVD player is Mplayer and Linux running on my Toshiba Satellite DVD laptop.
;-) I actually get DVD playback as good as anything else I've tried (I have a PS2 and used to own a dedicated DVD player). I was even shocked to discover that with all this set up, DVD playing under Linux actually /can/ outperform Win32 on the same box (don't flame me, it's really true.. and I was as surprised as you are ;-)
I use Gentoo Linux with all the performance patches in the kernel (low-latency, pre-empt). Combine this with the fact that all of my libraries/apps/tools are built specifically for my hardware, and I have a blazing system. I use the latest XFree86 to support my laptop's video hw accel. Then, I use Mplayer from the CLI (tho, there are some fancy GUIs for those who prefer the stuff). Since the laptop has a TV out, I can plug it into my home entertainment system.
The end result is a DVD player that allows me to skip all ads/warnings/etc, and watch what I want when I want. Plus, since everything is so optimized for my hardware (it helps that everything on the laptop is 100% supported
I agree... they either look scrambled, or like he was on LSD or pot when he was answering them...
I wouldn't say it's because no one uses it. By even the most cautious estimates, there are more Linux users than Mac users. Add to that the fact that much of the internet (web/ftp/etc sites) is powered by Linux and you see that Linux is indeed a big target.
/home directories that I discovered one for a user I never added... But I do know I had been compromised.
But with Linux we will never see the same level of email virus type threats that we see on Windows, because Linux users are encouraged to not run as root (the system administrator). Non-root users can do little more than destroy their own personal files. They will not be able to take down the system or do any real damage to the OS (unless, as I said, they are logged in as root).
With Linux the threat is more in the sense of exploits: either as a worm type virii that exploits some known problem in a large number of Linux systems (eg those Lion variants from several years back) or from some cracker out there who knows the exploits and uses them to gain malicious access to your system.
So, just like Windows, as a Linux user you still have to be carefull... keep up on the latest pacthes for your distro/software you use, and be paranoid... It's just that the threat is different, and in many ways, not as easy to neglect.
I've used Linux as my primary OS for some 6-7 years now. I've never gotten a virii or worm of any sort. I browse the web comfortably, and read mail without worry. However, I have had problems. About a year and a half ago I had someone break into my home system and use it to launch attacks on other systems. This person used some exploit I didn't know about, gave themselves and administrative account, and then proceeded to install and setup various cracking utilities. I'm not really certain what (if anything) they did with my system, because shortly after this happenned, I rebuilt my desktop (switched from RedHat to Debian), and it was only when I was restoring my
So the moral of the story is that you are never completely secure or safe. But with Linux, you do start out more secure than you otherwise would on Windows.
BTW, the way I now handle security is I just have an external firewall and router that protects my private home network. I have an old 486 running Coyote Linux that sits between me and the rest of the internet. It's still not Fort Knox... but it is very very close.
It's not just about getting paid more.... I've had jobs that pay me 4x what my current job is, but I did not enjoy them like I do my current one.
;-)
I don't care if people read this next comment as hokey, it's something I beleive in: I think the key is to find the perfect balance between surviving financially (making money) and surviving emotionally (enjoying where you work and what you do).
Before and shortly after the bubble-burst, I was working at a rather large company (very large company) doing a job that was particularily enjoyable for me (cross-platform development). I made very good money there. I even enjoyed my coworkers... they were friends and people I liked. However, there were two big problems- 1) I didn't like where this job made me live.. it made me live away from my wife for months on end and 2) I didn't like the management in the company I worked at (they made some pretty horrendously stupid decisions on technical matters based upon the decisions of lawyers rather than engineers).
My current job pays a lot less, but it is soooo much more enjoyable. It might not be quite as challenging (mostly system administration with minor development here and there) but the work environment is much more enjoyable. I like my boss and my coworkers, I consider them good friends. I like the other people I work with (the people I manage systems for), and I like where I live. Plus, my bene's are a tad better (granted, I'm now a state employee, so we tend to get pretty good benefits anyway
My advice is to look at where you do and would work in both situations, who you'd work with, and add that into the decision. If it turns out that you really like working where you are currently working, and you like who you work with, than I'd say stay. If the other option has more potential, then go for it instead.
Ha... ha... very funny...
I actually clicked on it believing it (mirrorsplus.com? woah, kewl a site that only mirrors other sites when they've been slashdotted!)
You know, it's amazing how many people must have actually gone and searched google for bell labs tts:
j ?voice=bigman&text=i+appear+to+have+been+slashdott ed.
:-/
http://www.bell-labs.com/cgi-user/tts/voicestts-n
Perhaps we broke it, and they wont be able to use it for Big Url anymore
Personally, I prefer mplayer over all the others, but I'll admit my reasons wont appeal to everyone. I prefer mplayer compiled without the GUI. Running mplayer from the CLI is my prefered way to do it, and it runs so extremely fast. I think the article was a bit harsh on mplayer's system requirements, as I have a Linux powered, DVD playing laptop that runs at either 250Mhz or 500Mhz (it's one of those awful auto-cycling Celerons
The biggest problem with MPlayer (IMHO) is that the developer's can be a bit harsh when people come to them with questions. They usually spout off the standard RTFM garbage (in spite of the fact that many sections of the manuals can be a) hard to find and b) quite terse). However, to be fair, they seem to have lightened up a bit recently. Regardless... mplayer is a divine app
You know what, the X Files jumped the shark long ago.
;-)
Remember when they killed off Spender (CGB's son?) as a season finale and then came back the next season as if *nothing* had happenned. Neither Mulder nor Scully nor anyone else ever seemed to care that someone who had been a high profile FBI agent, led the X files for a year, and adimantly (sp?) opposed what Mulder & Scully had done the previous 4-5 years mysteriously dissappeared just before Mulder & Scully were reinstated?!
And what about they time the entire Syndicate was killed off by the alien rebels (at least, that's who it seemed to be), and after that we never saw a) the black oil, b) the alien rebels, c) the bees, d) anything from the first 4-5 years, again?!
And let's not forget the first year Ducovny (sp? Duck-of-knee?) pulled his tantrum and we spent 6 months seeing him naked, strapped to a chair, with Hellraiser-esque hooks pulling his face, screaming "Scully!!" Or in the same season when we were treated to a pudgy-faced intern pretending to be Ducovny holding the crazy long-armed boy (the guy wasn't a boy, just an adult with some disease.. but he had these freakishly long arms by this point, and looked silly next to this horrid Ducovny rip-off) hostage while Skinner tried to rescue him?!
No, the X files jumped the shark a long damn time ago... and Carter's been milking this series a lot longer than he should have. The Lone Gunman series was pretty good last year, but never could have survived on its own with the X Files blowing chunks as it has been (which is unfortunate, I know).
X Files... PBBTH! I want my 20 some-odd video tapes, and X-odd years (what, 9?) back I've spent watching this show after the last two seasons.
Signed, one bitter X-Files fan. (At least I have Farscape
We've recently set up a Spam Troll-box using Vipul's Razor on our new Tux4Kids dev server (you can find our troll box here).
;-)
A troll-box gives Spam-bots a place to send their spam. When this box intercepts the spam, it reports it to the Vipul's Razor network, and everyone else on this network becomes aware of that spam (if they are also using Vipul's Razor to filter, which, chances are they are, it will filter that spam if they get it).
If Vipul's Razor isn't enough, one can even use something like SpamAssassin in conjunction with Vipul's Razor to get even better results.
Of course, this isn't cutting off Spam-bots at their source... but if enough sites were to cut them off at their source, then I'd imagine the Spam-bot authors would get wise to this and devise a way around it. Whereas with something like a SPam Troll-box, the Spam-bots seem to still be working to those running the Spam bots
Plus, let's not forget that this movie (and the first) were also based on a very good comic book (one of the last good ones Marvel had, IMHO, some ten years ago) as well as some funky 70s ones... So let's cut it some slack and see how true it comes to the original books.
First of all, as far is I can recall Whistler was a vampire in the original book (at least, if he wasn't, there was some other dude helping Blade out who was). Second of all, there was something like the BloodPack in the original series (there were even other things like the "Midnight Sons" and the "League of Darkness" and stuff like that).
I guess what I'm trying to say is, the most important thing (IMHO) is to be true to the comic book that spawned it (like Batman Forever, but not like Batman Returns). If the movie-maker can do that, who cares what some dork who never read the comic and never cared about it before thinks.
...or does this just sound like an excuse to get your thesis committee to allow you to watch hours and hours of The Simpsons and still get a degree?
Uhm.... so each machine becomes part of a massive collective of other Playstations? Does this sound like the Borg to anyone else?
Also, how long before this "collective" of PS3's becomes self-aware and decides to overthrow and criple it's human makers by giving them carpal tunnel?
...black, electrical tape.
While I'm not arguing the badness or goodness of software piracy... I am still very unconvinced this has anything to do with piracy.
It seems to me that all the bnetd developers did was reverse engineer the protocols involved in these battle.net servers, then provide a drop-in emulator.
This can be used by pirates, since the emulators don't need to validate the CD keys of the game... however, a quick search on Google, Gnutella, etc. will grant you many legitimate keys to play your pirated software on the official network anyway. So keys can be faked.
The bnetd servers promote piracy as much as owning a computer promotes piracy: they both can be means by which a pirated peice of software can be used. That is a very very very flimsy argument, and if it werent for the DMCA's anti-reverse engineering component, things like this would not be possible.